Rain. It wasn't the gentle drizzle of Konoha's spring, but a relentless, grey deluge that hammered against the leaded glass windows of the Hokage's office like a thousand tiny fists.
Hiruzen sat behind the fortress of his desk, the Hokage hat resting beside a steaming, yet forgotten, ceramic cup of tea. His posture was straight, deepened by the lamp's stark illumination. Before him, perched on sturdy, high-backed chairs that seemed islands in the dimness, sat the High Command, well most of them as the two senior elders were not present.
"The situation," Hiruzen began, his voice calm but carrying the undeniable weight of ultimate authority, "remains volatile, but presents undeniable... opportunities."
He tapped a scroll bearing the stylized rock symbol of Iwagakure, weighted down by a kunai near its edge. "Onoki's accusations against Suna escalate daily. Troop concentrations along their shared border are significant and growing. Direct conflict seems a matter of 'when', not 'if'."
Danzo's voice sliced through the ambient noise. "Opportunities is a cautious understatement, Hiruzen. While we deliberate, our enemies turn their claws upon each other." A rare, cold satisfaction seemed to emanate from him. "Kumo is thoroughly entangled in Kiri's marshes and coastlines. Their famed Lightning Release sputters against mist and tidal surges." He gestured dismissively towards another scroll marked with Kumo's bold lightning bolt. "The Raikage bleeds resources and manpower in a naval quagmire. Meanwhile," his piercing eyes shifted to the scroll marked with Suna's stylized gourd, "the Kazekage is forced to divert his gaze and his forces north, anticipating Iwa's hammer, leaving his eastern flank against us perilously thin. This... distraction... gifts Konoha invaluable breathing room."
Homura peered intently at the large map spread across the desk where the borders of Earth and Wind countries met, now dotted with markers indicating troop movements. "Indeed, Danzo. The timing of this friction is... remarkably fortuitous. Almost suspiciously so." He looked up, his eyes sharpening behind the lenses.
"Onoki claims Suna placed a genjutsu on his own daughter and obliterated a key distribution village. Outrageous charges." He paused, letting the implication hang heavy in the smoky air. "Hiruzen, what is your assessment? Is the Tsuchikage genuinely deceived? Or..." he drew the word out, "...is this an elaborate charade between Satetsu and Onoki? A ruse to lull us into complacency, or perhaps provoke us into a misstep?"
"CRACK!"
Koharu snapped her fan open. The painted cranes seemed to take flight in the lamplight. "Homura voices a critical concern. We cannot dismiss the possibility of collusion. Iwa and Suna have feuded for generations, yes, but desperation can forge the strangest of pacts. Perhaps they seek to manufacture a crisis to extort concessions from other powers."
Hiruzen steepled his fingers, the gesture familiar, contemplative. He didn't look at the elders immediately. Instead, his gaze drifted beyond the rain-streaked window, as if peering across the vast, arid expanse separating Suna and Iwa. The weight of his next words seemed to settle upon the room before he spoke them.
"It is neither," Hiruzen stated, his voice quiet, yet carrying absolute clarity in the stillness. He turned his gaze back, meeting each elder's questioning look in turn. There was no triumph in his eyes, only a deep, weary gravity. "Onoki is likely not deceived. The genjutsu accusation... the destroyed village... these events are not a Suna plot, nor an Iwa fabrication." He paused, the deliberate slowness amplifying the tension to a near-breaking point. "They are Konoha's doing, well most of them."
Silence.
The drip of rainwater finding its way down the chimney breast became deafening. Homura's spectacles slipped down his nose, forgotten. Koharu's fan froze mid-wave, the cranes arrested in flight. Even Danzo, the master of masks, the architect of countless shadows, went utterly still. His eyes widened a fraction – a minute crack in his usual impassivity, revealing genuine, unfeigned surprise.
"Wh... What?" Homura stammered, his voice uncharacteristically thin, reedy. He fumbled blindly for his spectacles. "Hiruzen, this... this is not some ill-timed jape?"
Danzo recovered first, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous register that vibrated with intensity. "Explain." It wasn't a request; it was a demand from the darkness.
Hiruzen met Danzo's intense, probing stare without flinching. "I sent Renjiro there," he stated, "He was to infiltrate the contested border regions between Earth and Wind. Identify critical logistical nodes – supply depots, communication hubs – utilized covertly by both Iwa and Suna to sustain their war efforts against Konoha. And neutralize them."
Hiruzen's gaze hardened slightly, a flicker of frustration or perhaps concern visible. "The obliterated Iwa distribution hub... that was explicitly listed as a primary target due to its confirmed role in arming Suna's western offensive legions. Its destruction fell squarely within the mission parameters. The genjutsu..." He shook his head slowly, a gesture of genuine perplexity. "That was unforeseen and not Renjiro's doing. The situation escalating to accusations of this magnitude, threatening to ignite a full-scale war between Iwa and Suna..." He paused, his expression genuinely troubled, etched with lines of surprise. "I am... surprised. The spark we lit landed upon Tinder far drier, far more volatile, than any intelligence suggested."
Homura stared, his mouth slightly agape. Koharu snapped her fan shut again. "Surprised? Hiruzen, you unleashed a force you admit you cannot fully comprehend, into the heart of enemy territory, and you are merely surprised it ignited a continent-threatening wildfire?" Her voice was laced with incredulous anger, but beneath it, a calculating gleam began to surface in her eyes, assessing the unexpected windfall.
A slow, almost reptilian smile spread across Homura's face, replacing his shock. "Unpredictable or not... this is... serendipitous! Look at the result!" He chuckled, a dry, rasping sound like stones tumbling. "Iwa and Suna, at each other's throats! Kumo bogged down! Konoha gains vital respite! We should... we should actively encourage this conflict! Send discreet support to Onoki! Underwrite his campaign! Let the Stone grind the Sand to dust while we conserve our strength!"
Koharu nodded, "Homura articulates sound strategy. A weakened Suna benefits Konoha directly. If Iwa bears the cost of breaking them, so much the better. We can offer intelligence intercepts, perhaps funnel non-attributable funds or supplies... ensure the conflict burns long and hot."
Danzo's voice cut through their burgeoning opportunism like a shard of ice plunged into water. "Foolish sentimentality."
The words hung, freezing the elders' momentum. Danzo leaned forward slightly, his eyes burning with cold contempt, first at Homura, then at Koharu.
"Your reflexive urge to seek advantage through perceived alliances blinds you. Again." His voice was a venomous whisper. "You speak of supporting Iwa? As if Onoki is some beleaguered ally deserving of Konoha's aid?"
Hiruzen nodded grimly, "Danzo speaks the unvarnished truth. Iwa is not our friend."
He tapped the intelligence scrolls with a deliberate finger. "Onoki has been playing a far more cynical, treacherous game. For months, Iwa has been the primary conduit." He emphasized the word. "Funneling advanced weaponry not only to Suna for their fight against us in the west..." He paused, letting the damning implication sink its claws in, "...but also, across the continent to Kumo, fueling their campaigns against us in the north."
The revelation landed like a physical blow. Homura's smile vanished, replaced by a look of sickened horror. Koharu's fan slipped slightly in her grip, her knuckles whitening. The room seemed to grow colder.
"Both... both sides?" Homura breathed, his voice barely a whisper. "He armed both our enemies? Against us?"
"Precisely," Danzo hissed, "Onoki sought to prolong the war indefinitely. Weaken all potential rivals. Position Iwa as the unscathed, dominant power rising from the ashes. He profited from the bloodshed while keeping his own precious Stone shinobi relatively intact. A classic, despicable Earth Country gambit: let others break themselves against each other on the anvil of conflict."
Hiruzen's expression was granite. "The villages Renjiro neutralized, including the one Onoki now hypocritically laments, were critical nodes in this very network. They weren't just Suna's lifelines; they were the arteries feeding Kumo's war machine and filling Iwa's coffers. They facilitated the deaths of Konoha genin on the western deserts, chunin in the northern passes, jonin on covert missions. Every weapon shipped, every resource diverted, prolonged the war and cost Konoha lives."
Danzo's lip curled in a sneer beneath his bandages, a glimpse of pure, cold hatred. "So, when you speak of helping Onoki, Homura, Koharu... you speak of aiding the architect of Konoha's prolonged agony. The merchant of death who sold the blades that cut down our children." His eyes locked onto each elder with searing intensity.
"Whatever chaos Renjiro has unleashed, whatever fire now consumes Iwa for its treachery..."
Hiruzen finished the thought, "They have earned every scorching second of it."